Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Unicorn Cake

 






Read Across America Party

For Read Across America Day this year, Rachel and I gave ourselves a challenge to read a book that is set in each state. We gathered some from our shelves and from the local library. We found 17 to start with. We are going to color each state as we read the books. 



 

Homemade Fondant

Put one 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows and 2 Tbsp water in a microwavable bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minutes. Stir. Heat for another minute and stir. If it is not fully melted, heat for another 30 seconds. 
Add four cups of sifted powdered sugar to the marshmallows. 

Stir

Spread Crisco on the counter. Dump the marshmallow/sugar mixture out. Add two more cups of powdered sugar and knead. You will need to put Crisco all over your hands while you knead the dough. 

Break off amounts of dough to color. 
Add the food gel and knead. 


Put Crisco over the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in a Tupperware and put in the fridge until ready to use. 


 

Leap Year Dinner Party

For Leap Year, we had a green-themed frog party. I turned our hamburger buns into frogs with olive eyes and a red pepper tongue. We also had cucumbers, chocolate frogs, and frog cupcakes. 

Mardi Gras Party

 

The food for our Mardi Gras dinner included Cajun chicken tenders, dirty rice, air fryer hush puppies and hurricane punch. 
And a Mardi Gras party would not be complete without King Cake. 





Super Bowl Party Food

 



Lunar New Year-Year of the Dragon

 

We had Dragon Chicken for our main dish:
Ingredients: 
1 egg
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pound chicken

Chicken breading: 
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 Tbsp chili powder
canola oil

Sauce: 
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp chili sauce
1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Stir fry:
1 cup unsalted cashews
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 white onion
1 red bell pepper
1 Tbsp ginger
6 cloves of garlic

Whisk the egg, 1 Tbsp soy sauce and spices together in a freezer bag. Add the sliced chicken to the bag. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 
Whisk the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.
Put the flour, cornstarch and chili powder in a freezer bag. Dab the chicken to remove some moisture after removing from the marinade. Put the chicken in the breading bag. Shake until coated. 
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the breaded chicken and cook for about 4 minutes. 
Toast the cashews in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat until there are some brown spots on the cashews. 
After the chicken is all cooked, add a little more oil to the skillet. Add the onion and bell pepper and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the sauce. Stir until thickened. Add the chicken and cashews and serve. 

We also had dumplings, fried rice, almond cookies, and dragon punch


For the dragon treats, cover the Rice Krispies with fruit roll-ups. 
I added dots, banana Laffy Taffy, candy eyes, and mini red M&Ms for the dragon head.
Then I added some foot by the foot for the tail. 






Disney Through the Decades Cake

For Rachel's 12 1/2 birthday, she wanted to do a Disney through the Decades theme. She picked a movie from each decade and we created a cupcake for it. 

Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella

101 Dalmatians, Robinhood, Littler Mermaid, Nightmare Before Christmas

Beauty and the Beast, Monsters Inc, Inside Out, Turning Red


 

Winnie the Pooh Day

January 18th is Winnie the Pooh Day, and we had a snow day, so I pulled out the Winnie the Pooh Lego set I had purchased and we threw ourselves a Winnie the Pooh themed party. 


We had Piglet punch, Tigger tails, honeycomb cereal, teddy grahams...

Rabbit's vegetables, orange donuts, and Eeyore's sticks.